Review of: Los Angeles 111, Sonics 91

Well what can we say here? The Sonics were dominated from the opening tip and were relagated to piling up stats for the final 3 1/2 quarters while 75 percent of the sellout crowd at KeyArena cheered on the Lakers. That’s what happens when you completely tear down a team and are starting from scratch and playing a popular team on the rise.

The Lakers wanted to knock out the Sonics early and did — jumping ahead 18-6 and that was about it. The only positive was the play of Mickael Gelabale, who scored a career-high 21 points and is not playing intimidated or scared as he was in the early season. He added eight rebounds and is lobbying to get re-signed in the offseason. He is a restricted free agent.

Kevin Durant just missed some easy jumpers in the early going and teams are scouting his drives to the basket and stripping him because he carries the ball low. It’s kind of like a running back carrying the ball with the wrong arm. Teams wait for Durant to lower the ball and go for the strip and he turned the ball over four times Sunday. Earl Watson had his shooting shoes on, taking a team-high 17 shots in just 26 minutes, but I think he figured that he might as well be the aggressive one when everyone else was timid.

The Lakers, meanwhile, are a machine that’s prepping for the postseason. Gasol gets so many passes from Bryant on double teams that he should average 30. And when defenses play Bryant and Gasol, Lamar Odom gets easy buckets. It will be interesting to see what happens when Andrew Bynum comes back in March, but right now, they are a fun team to watch when they move the ball.

The Sonics simply have to play hard the final 27 games and compete. They are going to win about 20-23 games, finish high in the lottery and get a nice pick, but they have to establish something in that span. Durant has to improve his shot selection. They have to find a point guard and they have to find out what they have from Gelabale and Johan Petro, so there is still reason to watch.

SONICS REPORT CARD

Jeff Green — A solid night banging bodies with the Lakers big guys and he didn’t back down. He has to do more of that — B

Nick Collison — Disappeared at times in the game but still finished with three blocked shots and eight rebounds — C+

Johan Petro — Finished with 10 rebounds and two blocked but was 3-for-13 from the field. He had to create easier shots that those elbow jumpers — C-

Kevin Durant — Has to do more when he is not shooting well and we need to see more improvement from the first month. He is stagnating — C-

Earl Watson — Missed 12 shots in 26 minutes but was the lone starter to play with passion. He deserves something for that — C+

Mickael Gelabale — A very impressive game and didn’t play with any fear. He is good enough to play in this league but he needs a role — A-

Francisco Elson — Is showing he is not afraid to shoot — 8 shots in 17 minutes — but he can’t miss six of those and commit two turnovers — C-

Luke Ridnour — Played a solid game with seven points and five assists but it was mostly garbage time — C+

Ira Newble — Seemed tentative in his 11 minutes and missed his lone 3-pointer, let’s give him a game to get acclaimated — INC

Adrian Griffin — One rebound in three minutes, at least he got on the floor — INC